Foundation garment or the like



May 12, 1942. P. H. ROBBINS FOUNDATION GARMENT;OR THE LIKE FiledApril'l6, 1940 Patented May 12, 1942 orrica FOUNDATION GARMEN '1' OR THELIKE Philip Robbins, New Yorlc'N. Y., assignor to Poirette Corsets,Inc., New ,York, N. Y.

Application April 16, 1940, Serial No. 329,949 Q 1 Claim. (01. 2-a7 Thisinvention relates to a foundation garment for womens wear.

A garment, in accordance with this invention is in the form of agirdle-like structure comprising an upper portion for encompassing thewearers body at the waist and above the latter to near the busts and alower portion for encompassing the hips, thighs, abdomen, lower portionof the back and buttocks and said type of garment is termed by the tradea foundation garment, or it may be the form aforesaid having attached toits upper end a brassiere.

The garment, in accordance with this invention as hereinafter set forth,is an improvement upon the foundation garment as disclosed by LettersPatent 2,137,182 granted to me November 15, 1938, and it not onlyembodies all of the aims and the advantages as set forth by the LettersPatent aforesaid, but further aims to provide, in a manner ashereinafter set forth, a foundation garment in the form of a girdle-likebody having a pair of oppositely disposed side parts each formed of anon-elastic intermediate section in the form of a fabric web, front andrear fashioned sections in the form of webs of r elastic woven fabriceach having secured thereon a set of spaced elastic members for creatingresistance to the expansive action of the webs resulting in additionalfashioning for the garment.

The invention further aims to provide a foundation garment for womenswear including a front part formed of a non-elastic section and anelastic gusset-like section, a non-elastic back part, a pair ofnon-elastic side portions, two spaced pairs of spaced fashioned sideportions each formed of a web of elastic Woven fabric, one web of eachof said pairs of side portions being secured to a side of thenon-elastic section of said front portion, the other web of each of saidpairs of side portions being secured to a side of said back part, a setof spaced elastic resistance members secured to each web and with thewebs and said members correlating for imparting a thoroughly efficientrestraining and controlling power for the garment when the latter isworn.

The invention further aims to provide a foundation garment for womenswear including a front part formed of a non-elastic section and one webof each of said pairs of side portions be- 5 i ing secured to a side ofthe non-elastic section of said front portion, the other Web of each ofsaid pairs of side portions being secured to a side of said back part, aset of spaced elastic resistance members secured to each web and withthe webs and said members correlating to thereby provide when thegarment is worn to control the diaphragm, waist line and the abdomen, as

, is simple in its construction and arrangement,

strong, durable,'compact, thoroughly efficient for the purpose intendedthereby, readilyassembled, pleasing in appearance and comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

To the above ends essentially and others which may hereinafter appear,the invention consists of the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts as will be more specifically described andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein are shown embodimentsof the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variationsandmodifications may be resorted to which fal1 within the scope of theinvention as claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the garment as applied to thesimulation of the body of a I towards the inner face of the garment,

Figure 4 is a section on line 4--& Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 Figure 3. With reference to thedrawing, the garment, indicated at ill, will be in the form of anendless girdle-like body formed of a front part II, a back part 52 and apair of side parts 13, Hi.

The front part I l consists of a non-elastic section [5 formedof a pairof opposed non-elastic like webs of fabric and an elastic section orgusset-I6. The section I5 centrally of its lower portion is providedwith a cutout to form an opening I? of substantially inverted V-shapedcontour. The side edges of opening I! are of like form and each consistsof an outwardly directed upper portion l8 of outwardly curved contourand a lower outwardly directed inclined portion I6. The section orgusset I6 is disposed between the webs of and is secured to the sectionI5, adjacent the edge portions I8 by the stitching 26. The section I6extends across the major portion of the opening IT. The lower end ofsection I6 aligns with the points of mergence between the edge portionsi8 and I9. The section I6 is formed of elastic woven material having itsupper part 2| more closely woven than its lower part 22 whereby thelatter will stretch more freely than the part 2|. An elastic strap 23 isarranged rearwardly of the said lower part 22 and it connects the lowerterminal parts of the edge portions I8 together.

The upper terminal portion of section I of the front part II is bentinwardly against the inner face of said section I5 to form a fold 23 Thelatter is secured to the inner face of section I5 by a stitching 23which is so disposed to provide for the correlation of the fold 23 andthe body of section I5 to form the upper portion of the inner face offront part I with a pair of spaced aligned pockets 23 closed at theirupper ends and opening at their lower ends. Secured against the innerface of front part II is a pair of spaced parallel protected stay means23 which extend into the pockets 23 The back part I2 consists of a frontand a rear fashioned non-elastic fabric web. The webs are of like formand designated 24. The upper terminal portion of the inner web 24 hassecured thereto by the stitching 25 a non-elastic reinforcing member 26of tape-like form. The stitching 26 is so disposed relative to the innerweb 24 and the reinforcement 26 to provide a pair of pockets 2! closedat their upper ends and open at their lower ends. Secured to the innerweb 24 and disposed in spaced relation to the sides of the back part I2is a pair of spaced parallel casings 28. Arranged within each casing 28is a stay member 29 of less length than the length of the casing andwhich has its lower end arranged above the lower end of the casing. Thecasings 28 extend up into the pockets 21. The lower ends of the casings28 are interposed between the rear web 24 and a non-elastic reinforcingstrip 36, which is secured by the stitching 32 to the webs 24. Thecasings 28 are secured to the back part I2 by the stitching 3| and suchstitching has a portion thereof, as indicated at 32,

above the lower end of the casings providing stops for the lower end ofthe stays 29.

The side part I3 comprises a front section 34 formed of a fashioned webof an elastic woven fabric, an intermediate section 35 formed of afashioned web of a non-elastic fabric and a rear section 36 formed of afashioned web of an elastic woven fabric corresponding to the fabricwhich section 34 is formed of. The upper and lower terminal portions 31,38 of each of said elastic fabrics are loosely woven and theintermediate portion 39 of each of said elastic fabrics is closely wovenwhereby said terminal portions of each elastic fabric are capable ofbeing more freely stretched than the intermediate portion of the elasticfabric. The intermediate portion 39 is of greater length than the saidportion 3! or 38.

Secured to the upper portion of the said intermediate portion 39 of theinner face of said front section 34, by the zig-zag stitching 46, is aset of spaced combined elastic and resistance members 4|, 42, 43 oftape-like form and of a length to extend from the inner side edge to theouter side edge of said section 34.

The member 4| is disposed horizontally and arranged below and inproximity to the upper terminal portion of the section 34. The member 42is arranged below the member 4| and extends downwardly at an inclinationfrom its inner to its outer end. The member 43 is arranged below themember 42 and extends at a downward inclination from its inner to itsouter end. The inclination of the member 43 is greater than theinclination of the member 42. The outer side of the section 34 and theouter ends of the members 4|, 42, 43 are arranged between one side ofthe webs forming the section I5 of front part II, and are secured tosaid section I5 by the stitching 44. The inner side of section 34 andthe inner ends of the members 4|, 42, 43 are positioned against theinner face, at one side of the sections 34, 35 and members 4|, 42, 43 bythe stitching 46, whereby the inner side of section 34 is secured to oneof the sides of section 35. The latter has secured to its inner face,centrally thereof by the stitching 41 a reinforcing strip 48. Thesection 35 is of greater width than the sections 34, 36 of side part I3.The side edges of the section 35 are disposed on oppositely disposedarcs, but the arc of the outer side edge of section 35 is upon a greaterradius than the arc of the inner side edge of such section.

Secured to the upper portion of the said intermediate portion of theinner face of said rear section 36, by the zig-zag stitching 49 is a setof spaced combined elastic and resistant members 50, 5|, 52 of tape-likeform and of a length to extend from the inner side edge to the outerside edge of section 36. The set of combined elastic and resistantmembers secured to the section 36 are oppositely disposed with respectto the set of combined elastic and resistant members secured to thesection 34. The member 50 is disposed horizontally and arranged belowand in proximity to the upper terminal portion of the section 36. Themember 5| is arranged below the member 50 and extends downward at aninclination from its front to its rear end. The member 52 isarrangedbelow the member 5| and extends at a downward inclination from its frontto its rear end. The inclination of member 52 is greater than theinclination of the member 5|. The front side of the section 36 and thefront ends of the members 56, 5|, 52 are positioned against the innerface at the rear or other side of the intermediate section 35. The frontside of the section 34 and the front ends of the members 50, 5|, 52 havearranged against the inner faces thereof a binder 53 of tape-like formextending from the upper to the lower end of side part I3. The binder 53is also arranged against the inner face of section 35. The binder 53 issecured to the sections 35, 36 and members 56, 5| 52 by the stitching54, whereby the front side of section 36 is secured to the inner or rearside of section 35. The rear side of the section 36 and the rear ends ofthe members 50, 5| and 52 extend between one side of the webs 24 of theback part I2 and are secured to said back part I2 by the stitching 55. p

The side part I4 comprises front, intermediate and rear sections 56, 51,58 respectively. The sections 56 and 58 correspond in construction tothat of the sections 34, 36 respectively of the side part I3. Thecombined elastic and resistant members of the section 56 are indicatedat 59, 60, 6| and they are arranged on the section 56 in the same mannerthat the members 4 I, 42 and 43 are arranged on the section 34 of sidepart I3. The combined elastic and resistant members of the section 58are indicated at 62, 63 and 64 and are arranged on the section 58 in thesame manner as the members 50, 5!, 52 are arranged on the section 36 ofthe side part l3. The combined elastic and resistant members of the backpart [4 correspond in form to the form of the combined elastic andresistant members on the side part l3. The section 56 of the side partI4 is secured to the other side of the front II in the same manner asthe section 34 of the side part I3 is secured to the front II. Thesection 58 of the side part [4 is secured to the other side of the backl2 in the same manner as the section 36 of the side part [3 is securedto the back part I2. The sections 56, 58 of the side part l4 are securedto the sides of the section 51 of the side part I4 in the same manner asthe sections 34, 36 of the side part [3 are secured to the sides of thesection 35 of said side part. l3. The section 57 of the side part l4corresponds in construction to the section 35 of the ,side part l3 withthis exception that the section 51 has its upper portion formed with aslit 65 opening at its upper end which is closed by a slide fastenerstructure 66 of known form. The further differ- .ence between thesection 51 and the section 35 consists of providing the inner face ofthe section 51 and a flap 61 for bridging the slit 65 and said flap andsaid section 51 may be provided with any suitable correlated means 68for detachably connecting one side of the flap to section 51. The otherside of the flap is stitched to section 51, as at 69.

The simulation of the body of the wearer is indicated at 10. The lowerend of the garment has depending therefrom spaced supporters H. The flap61 constitutes means for protecting the body of the wearer from thefastening means which closes the edges of the split.

The sections 34, 36, 56, 58 of the side parts l3, l4 constitute carriersfor the elastic restraining members.

What I claim is:

In a garment for womens wear, a body structure of girdle-like formcomprising a series of spaced sets of spaced superposed combined elasticand resistance members of strap-like form, the upper member of each setbeing disposed horizontally and the other members of each set be ingdisposed at a downward inclination to the horizontal, a series of spacedfashioned elastic elements of woven fabric each constituting a carrierfor a set of members, each of said elastic elements including a looselywoven upper terminal portion, a loosely woven lower terminal portion anda closely woven intermediate portion, means for independently securingthe lengthwise edges of each member of a set to the upper portion of theclosely woven intermediate portion of a carrier to secure the memberacross and against a part of the carrier, the upper member of each setbeing disposed below and in proximity to the loosely woven upperterminal portion of a carrier said body including spaced reinforcedinelastic fabric elements interposed between and having their sidessecured to the sides of said elastic elements and the ends of saidmembers, each elastic element having its upper and lower ends alignedwith the upper and lower ends of a pair of inelastic elements adjacentthereto and certain of said inelastic elements having oppositelydisposed side edges of arcuate contour, said side inelastic membersbeing of substantial width and said elastic portions being substantiallynarrower than said inelastic side members.

PHILIP H. ROBBINS.

